Until the mid-19th century, people usually had to pay for the postage on the letters they received. That resulted in a lot of mail being returned because the recipient didn’t want to spend the money. Prepaid postage stamps, introduced in 1847, solved this problem.

1893

first woman on stamp

The first woman to appear on a U.S. postage stamp was Queen Isabella in 1893. The first woman honored on stamp was Martha Washington in 1902. The first Native American featured on a stamp was Pocahontas in 1907. The first African American featured on a stamp was Booker T. Washington in 1940.

The first Forever stamp, issued in 2007, was an image of the Liberty Bell. Forever stamps are purchased at the current First-Class Mail postage price and remain valid for full postage no matter how prices change.

Out of this world! A postage stamp was inside the New Horizons spacecraft that made a flyby of Pluto in July 2015. That's the farthest distance traveled by a postage stamp - more than 3 billion miles. So noted by the Guinness World Records.

The Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp has raised more than $86.7 million since 1998. More than 1 billion stamps have been sold. The stamp is scheduled to remain on sale until December 2019. Other congressionally mandated semipostal stamps have included Heroes of 2001 and Stop Family Violence. The Save Vanishing Species semipostal stamp remains on sale and has raised more than $4.3 million since 2011.

The Eagle Logo, the trade dress of USPS packaging, the Letter Carrier Uniform and the Postal Truck and the following word marks are among the many trademarks owned by the United States Postal Service®:

Postal Facts provides the public with information about the Postal Service. The facts in this publication may be reproduced for the purpose of stating the fact itself, and in a business, informational, academic context and the like, and in the body of text discussing factual subject matter relevant to the fact being presented. However, these facts may become outdated after publication and seeking the latest information is advised.

The Eagle Logo, the trade dress of USPS packaging, the Letter Carrier Uniform and the Postal Truck and the following word marks are among the many trademarks owned by the United States Postal Service®:

Postal Facts provides the public with information about the Postal Service. The facts in this publication may be reproduced for the purpose of stating the fact itself, and in a business, informational, academic context and the like, and in the body of text discussing factual subject matter relevant to the fact being presented. However, these facts may become outdated after publication and seeking the latest information is advised.